Our Team

Staff

Angela Moore

Chairwoman of the Board

Angela Moore is the chairwoman of the board at Virginia Distillery Company. In her role, she is active in marketing and championing the brand in markets across the U.S. and beyond.

She is also the Managing Partner of Ravensdale Capital, an investment platform created to provide angel and venture capital investments in start-up and early stage technology business in the US.

Angela is the Managing Director of Macha Capital Partners, a private investment fund focused on investing in small, growth-orientated business in Ireland, with a special focus on women-led initiatives, in a broad range of sectors including, manufacturing, technology and tradable services.

Angela serves on the boards of several organizations, including the UCD Smurfit School Advisory Board, Ireland, Women in Business NI, the North American Northern Ireland Advisory Council, Governance Board of Crescent Capital, Belfast and The American Ireland Fund. She is also a member of the Irish Global Economic Forum.

Gareth Moore

CEO / Chairman

Gareth’s father, the late Dr. George G. Moore, wanted to make Virginia Distillery Company a reality in order to share his passion for superbly crafted American made malt whisky and to do so in the heart of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Today, his son Gareth along with his wife Maggie carry on his father’s legacy as well as his father’s commitment to creating an exceptional product that captures the centuries old craftsmanship of the finest distilling in the world while still going “Against the Grain” to create something truly unique in Central Virginia.

In addition to his role at Virginia Distillery Company, Gareth is a Principal at Adelphi Capital in Washington, DC and a Partner at Ravensdale Capital, an angel investment firm specializing in fledgling technology companies.

Maggie Moore

Chief Experience Officer

Maggie works as part of the Virginia Distillery team in bringing the Visitor Center vision to life. She is passionate about creating a state of the art location where fans of whisky can come to learn about the history and vision of the Virginia Distillery Company, and most importantly try some samples of our delicious offerings.

Marlene Steiner

Brand Director

After spending a few years on Wall Street, Marlene moved to the Pacific Northwest to start a winery with her husband. While working nights and weekends to get the winery up and running, she also worked full-time in marketing and operations at one of the Northwest’s oldest wine brands, Woodward Canyon Winery. After eight years, family drew Marlene and her husband to Colorado, where she ended up getting her start in whisky as the Brand Manager at Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey. Opportunity at Virginia Distillery Company drew her to Virginia, and she hasn’t looked back! In addition to enjoying good drams, Marlene and her husband are having fun exploring Virginia and all of the great hiking and outdoor adventures the state has to offer.

Kate Johnston

Sales Director

After more than a decade working in distribution and supplier sales in the spirits industry, Kate has particular experience with growing new brands and expanding new markets. Kate served most recently as Vice President of Sales (East) for 21st Century Spirits, where she managed a multi-brand portfolio and developed and implemented sales and marketing strategies for a nationwide sales force. In addition to whisky sipping, Kate enjoys skiing, traveling, cooking, and spending time with her family and dogs.

Ian Thomas

Distillery Director

Ian hails from the great state of Tennessee where his career began as a microbiologist for Lallemand, propagating and testing yeast cultures for bakers, brewers and distillers. With an education and background in biology and fermentation, he was approached to help start the Big River Distilling Company in Memphis, Tennessee. His experience and passion for distillation makes him the perfect fit at Virginia Distillery Company, where he is excited to help create a world-class whisky. With Tennessee not being too far away he can still see his beloved Tennessee Volunteers on an occasional fall Saturday.

Jerry Heddy

Operations Director

Jerry started his career at The Hershey Company where he held operational and leadership roles in their supply chain and manufacturing divisions. During his tenure at Hershey, Jerry led several Reese’s brand production lines as a Business Unit Team Leader. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in engineering from Lehigh University and University of Virginia, respectively. Jerry couldn’t be more thrilled to help build a great operations team to create a world class whisky that defines American Single Malt!

Harry Cockburn

Mentor

Harry Cockburn has more than 50 years experience in the distilling industry, dating back to 1965 where he started at Inver House Distillers. Focusing on engineering, he has worked at Bowmore, Auchentoshan, Glen Gerioch and was involved in distillery projects in South Korea and Nova Scotia.

Harry’s intention was to take early retirement, but that didn’t last long. He soon decided to launch his own distillery production consulting firm, becoming a leading consultant to the whisky industry. Since then he has worked with numerous distillery startups across the globe, including Belgium, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, U.S., France, Uruguay, India, Turkey, South Africa, France, China, Italy, Ireland and Bhutan.

When he is not working on distilleries Harry spends his time with his lovely wife Marlene, their children and grandchildren and their beautiful garden.

Nancy Fraley

Consulting Master Blender

Nancy Fraley is a Whiskey & Rum blender. She runs a firm called Nosing Services in Berkeley, CA, where she provides custom blending services, as well as sensory analysis, for distilleries worldwide. She is creator of the first American Craft Whiskey Aroma Wheel, a tool for both distillers and spirits consumers released in the spring of 2012. Nancy also teaches blending theory and sensory analysis for distillers.

The die of Nancy’s destiny as a professional nose and spirits maker was cast when she was no more than six years old, after having inconspicuously tasted her first Bourbon at her father’s wedding. Before answering her true calling in life, she studied Tibetan Buddhism and obtained her Master’s Degree from Harvard Divinity School. After becoming disenchanted with pursuing a career in academia, Nancy obtained her Juris Doctor Degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law, where she studied Maritime & Admiralty Law and International Human Rights Law. After a brief stint working as a law librarian in a corporate law firm, she quit her job and traveled through Morocco, Spain and Mexico in search of her life’s passion. It was shortly after her adventures that she followed her calling and went to work for the illustrious brandy house, Germain-Robin, one of the first craft distilleries in the U.S. More recently, Nancy has served as the Director of Research at the American Distilling Institute, a trade organization for the craft distilling industry. She is on the faculty at the Distilled Spirits Epicenter’s “Moonshine University,” where she teaches Whiskey & Rum Maturation, Warehousing, & Blending, and Advanced Sensory Analysis.